The vassal kings have existed since ancient times and originated from the feudal system. The so-called feudal system refers to the feudal system. It has existed since ancient times and became a phenomenon in the Zhou Dynasty. After the Spring and Autumn Period of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Warring States Period, the princes became larger and destroyed the Zhou Dynasty. Then Qin unified China and implemented the system of prefectures and counties. Later dynasties also adopted the feudal system, but they were unable to avoid feudal kings causing rebellion, such as the Seven Kings of the Han Dynasty. The Rebellion of the Jin Dynasty, the Eight Kings Rebellion of the Jin Dynasty, etc. From the Sui Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, there was no longer the problem of vassal kings, but problems such as the separatism of vassal towns were also highlighted.
In the Ming Dynasty, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty respected the Zhou rites and tried to consolidate the imperial power by strengthening the enfeoffment of feudal officials in view of the lessons learned from previous generations of heroes, relatives, and eunuchs in politics. In the second year of Hongwu, the "Feudal King System" was established. In April of the third year, the ten kingdoms of Qin, Jin, Yan, Wu, Chu, etc. were enfeoffed, emphasizing: "The world is so big that it is necessary to build a vassal screen to protect the country at the top and ensure the safety of the people below. Now that the princes have grown up, it is appropriate for each to have a title. "Divide the towns into kingdoms." This is "a plan for long-term peace and long-term governance." Although Zhu Yuanzhang also prevented the vassal kings from causing rebellion, stating that the kings "only hold titles but do not come to the people, and divide vassals without respecting the soil." However, as long as the vassal kings appeared, there was no pressure to rebel due to their natural blood relationship with the emperor. Today we will take a look at the rebellion of the vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty. 1. Battle of Jingnan: Legend of Zhu Diyong
In 1398, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty died. Due to the early death of the crown prince Zhu Biao, the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen came to the throne, with the reign name Jianwen, that is, Huizong of the Ming Dynasty. In order to consolidate the imperial power, Emperor Huizong of the Ming Dynasty conspired with his close ministers Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and others to reduce the vassal status. Decide on the strategy of making things easy first and then making things difficult, starting with the less powerful vassal kings, and then concentrating on dealing with the more powerful vassal kings. The king of Zhou, the king of Dai, the king of Qi, and the king of Xiang were either deposed as common people or forced to commit suicide. Little did they know that such a warning aroused the precautions of King Yan and King Ning. Of course, Emperor Jianwen also mobilized King Zhu Di's elite soldiers in the name of border defense and prepared to eradicate Zhu Di. So King Yan united other kings to rebel, and the banner raised by King Yan was precisely the banner of the early Han Dynasty. The "Qing Jun side" of the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion was also the ancestral system stipulated by Zhu Yuanzhang, that is, the kings had the right to send documents to the court to demand treacherous ministers and raise troops to Qing Jun side (enacted by Ming Taizu to prevent powerful ministers from mismanaging government). The two sides started a war and fought for four years. King Zhu Di of Yan defeated Emperor Jianwen and succeeded in seizing power. He became emperor and became Emperor Yongle. This seizure of power was very famous in history and had a great impact. Among the three vassal rebellions in the Ming Dynasty, only Zhu Di's battle of Jingnan was successful. From then on, the emperor fell into the hands of Zhu Di's lineage. 2. Zhu Gaoxu’s rebellion: the most desperate emperor
Since Zhu Gaoxu’s rebellion was unsuccessful, he could not call for service, but could only rebel. King Yan was in trouble, and when King Yan led the army, Gao Xu often accompanied the army. The king of Yan once said to him, "The prince (i.e. Zhu Gaochi) is sick, so do your best." This sentence made Gao Xu's heart move. Gao Xu relied on his merits, and there were a group of people around him who gave him advice, and they conspired several times to drive a wedge between King Yan and his son. However, the crown prince Zhu Gaochi was no ordinary person. King Yan went on an expedition and asked him to stay in the country to supervise the country. The matter was handled properly and King Yan had no worries. After Zhu Di came to the throne, some ministers encouraged Chengzu to change the throne to the crown prince. Chengzu was also tempted, but considering that the crown prince was appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang, once the crown prince was changed, it would definitely disturb the government and the public. In addition, it would violate the eldest son inheritance system; and there was Zhu Gaochi, who was born in the first year of Jianwen. His son Zhu Zhanji was extremely loved by Chengzu. During his lifetime, Chengzu was awarded Dagui by Taizu, who said, "I will pass it on to my ancestors and grandchildren, and they will be prosperous forever." After his birth, Chengzu saw his grandson's "son's heroic face, which is a sign of my dream." Although Gao Xu had military exploits, he also made many mistakes. The prince then appointed Zhu Gaochi. After that, Gao Xu repeatedly refused to return to the country and changed his title many times, finally being granted the title of Le'an Prefecture in Shandong Province. In the 22nd year of Yongle, Chengzu died of illness in Yumuchuan on the way to the north. Crown Prince Gao Chi ascended the throne and changed his reign to Hongxi, who became Renzong. Renzong served as emperor for 10 months. He died of illness in May of the first year of Hongxi. His grandson Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne and changed his title to Xuande next year.
It is said that when Gao Xu was in Le'an Prefecture, he was already ready to take action when he heard that Chengzu had died, but he had no chance to make a move at that time. Ten months later, Renzong collapsed again, and the crown prince Zhu Zhanji died. The funeral in Nanjing was a conspiracy to ambush the soldiers on the road, but they failed due to haste. Xuanzong was as kind to Gao Xu as his father was to Gao Xu. However, Gao Xu still did not hold back. In August of the first year of Xuande's reign, he launched an army to rebel, just like his father's old trick, in the name of "Jing Dinan". Xuanzong summoned his ministers to respond, and some proposed sending Xue Lu, Marquis of Yangwu, to conquer Gao Xu. Minister Yang Rong advocated that Xuanzong personally conquer Gao Xu. Xia Yuanji also agreed. Xuanzong decided to lead three battalions and five armies to conquer Gao Xu personally. On the one hand, Xuanzong sent people to Le'an City to proclaim the imperial edict, knowing the advantages and disadvantages, and ordered him to surrender; on the other hand, a large army arrived at Le'an City and besieged it heavily. Gao Xu was forced to leave the city to plead guilty to Xuanzong. The rebellion of Gao Xu ended. Xuanzong treated his uncle very well and did not kill him, but Zhu Gaoxu still committed suicide by himself. When Zhu Zhanji came to see him, he used his sweeping leg to trip Zhu Zhanji down. Zhu Zhanji ordered someone to kill him. The vat was placed on Zhu Gaoxu's head. You said it was time for Zhu Gaoxu to stop, but he didn't. He ran around with the vat. Zhu Zhanji couldn't bear it and finally burned Zhu Gaoxu to death. 3. The Chenhao Rebellion: The achievement of Wang Shouren who never led an army
Speaking of the Chenhao Rebellion, few people may know it, but when it comes to King Ning, many people must know it, "Tang Bo Hu Spots Autumn Fragrance" It was mentioned that King Ning was in rebellion, and he was the one he was talking about. King Ning was in rebellion, and it was actually his destiny to do so once. When King Yan rebelled, he united with King Ning, and promised to divide the world equally after King Ning succeeded. But what happened was that After moving inland to Nanchang, perhaps the descendants of King Ning also wanted to try and see if they could get half of the country.
In the fourteenth year of Zhengde's reign, Emperor Wu Zhu Houzhao wanted to go to the south of the Yangtze River after returning from his western tour. Therefore, the ambitious Ning King Zhu Chenhao used the excuse of Emperor Wu Zong's debauchery and immorality. On June 14 of that year, he mobilized troops to kill the governor Sun Sui and Jiangxi deputy envoy Xu Kui, and changed the Zhengde reign. With Li Shishi and Liu Yangzheng as the prime ministers of the left and right, and Wang Lun as the Minister of War, they gathered a crowd of one hundred thousand, and sent out messages to various places to criticize the imperial court. At the beginning of July, he used his generals to guard Nanchang, led his navy to the east of the Yangtze River, captured Jiujiang, defeated Nankang, and then left Jiangxi. He commanded his navy to sail down the river to attack Anqing, hoping to capture Nanjing.
Wang Shouren, the governor of Tinggan and Gandu and the censor of Qiandu, heard about the change and raised his troops to serve the king. He gathered soldiers from all over the country and captured Nanchang on July 20th. Zhu Chenhao heard the news and returned to rescue Nanchang. On the 24th, he met Wang Shouren's army at Huangjiadu in the northeast of Nanchang. The rebels were defeated and retreated to Bazinao. On the 26th, the Ming army attacked with fire, and Chen Hao was defeated. The soldiers burned and drowned more than 30,000 people. Chen Hao, his son, the prince, Li Shishi, Liu Yangzheng, Wang Lun, etc. were all captured. Later, it was staged that Ming Wuzong wanted to capture King Ning personally, but gave up for some reason. Looking at the three rebellions in the Ming Dynasty, only King Yan succeeded and became the eternal emperor. The subsequent two rebellions had little impact. This was also the result of successive emperors cutting down vassals. The reason why there was a lot of movement in the third time reflects that the Ming Dynasty's national power has been declining since the Tumubao Incident. Once internal and external troubles occurred, and the monarch made mistakes, emergencies often occurred, which were to a certain extent sporadic; and Wang Shouren's outstanding ability to turn the tide The performance also reflects that the legacy of raising scholars in the early Ming Dynasty is still there, and despite the dangers, the country is still in trouble.